Georgetown Hosts “Responding to Venezuela's Exodus” Event
Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of International Migration co-hosted “Responding to Venezuela’s Exodus” with the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) on September 19. The objective of the event was to discuss potential solutions to lessen the impact of the mass migration of Venezuelans to neighboring countries and to determine how to help Venezuelan migrants integrate into their new communities.
A group of expert panelists came together to discuss the Venezuelan migration crisis. Chris Canavan, the director of Global Policy Development at Soros Fund Management, moderated the panel. Each speaker was allotted time to discuss a topic, and questions were encouraged after all the panelists spoke.
The first to speak was Ligia Bolívar, a senior researcher at the Venezuelan Andres Bello Catholic University Center for Human Rights. She discussed the complications of the humanitarian crisis, as the vast majority of the Venezuelans migrating are not doing so out of fear of political persecution but rather for access to employment, security, health, and food sources. A refugee is defined by the United Nations Refugee Agency as “someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.” Based on this definition, the migrants have not been officially classified as refugees.
However, Bolívar argues that the Venezuelan migrants are indeed refugees because they are risking their lives to leave their nation to avoid dying of hunger or of lack of basic necessities. She expressed her disappointment in the Quito summit of early September, which was attended by representatives of 11 nations, for not treating the mass migration as a refugee crisis.
Luis Carlos Rodríguez de la Cruz, an advocacy officer for Jesuit Refugee Service in Latin America and the Caribbean, and Jimena Sánchez-Garzoli, the director for the Andes for WOLA, expanded on the complexity of the crisis. Sánchez stated that many responses to the mass migration view the problem as temporary, but she argued that it should be treated as a permanent issue in need of long-term solutions. Rodríguez de la Cruz voiced his concern with the vulnerable state of those leaving the country and the problems they could bring to their new host countries. The majority of migrants are families with children, impoverished and sick individuals, and indigenous groups, which raises concerns that they could bring illnesses across borders to Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil.
Geoff Ramsey, WOLA’s assistant director for Venezuela, spoke of the importance of targeted foreign policy for a successful response. He stated that, while Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is unlikely for Venezuelans, if the United States wants to ensure protections for fleeing Venezuelans, it must open its own borders and lead by example. This came in response to the Trump Administration’s announcement that the country will cap its quota of refugees at 30,000 in 2019—a record low.
The event venue was filled with students, faculty, and representatives from different non-profits responding to Venezuela’s mass exodus. For more information on the WOLA’s work in Venezuela, visit their blog on the issue: https://venezuelablog.org.